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Oh, and to the original topic... I am in the Northern Territories now on a bus, and the lush greenery and steep hills, occasionally dotted with family tombs, are definitely one thing that pops into mind. I need to go exploring there sometime.

Wekk, as far as westerners go... I'm not sure what the official numbers are and the PRC doesnt do much to compile them, but the bulk of Western-Chinese marriages are Western men to Chinese women, so on the one hand, it makes things slightly more challenging for the traditional male breadwinner structure if the man isn't allowed to work legally. Thankfully though, for me, it's pretty easy for a Westerner to get a work visa in china.

A lot of Chinese male to international woman marriages are to women from Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, etc, occasionally Ukraine or Russia, and since in most of those cases the man is wealthy enough to woo and marry a foreign bride, it's often a non-issue since she won't be working anyways.

It is a lot tougher for an African or middle eastern man who marries a Chinese woman, since work and therefore visas are harder to come by. About six months ago, GZ authorities started cracking down on the African community because there is a larger percentage of them who overstay their visas; much heavier scrutiny for the ones with valid visas upon re-entry from HK or Macau, with lots of guys shut out from their Chinese families. If they presented documentation for marriage, the response was, "why didn't you get a spouse visa?" Not much sympathy from the immigration authorities on the issue.

For decades, spouses of work (H1b) visa holders in the US aren't allowed to work legally either. Is that sexism?

totally different situations; a foreign national marrying a citizen and still not being allowed to work upon issuance of a spousal visa, versus the non-citizen spouse of a non-citizen issued a work visa not automatically obtaining their own work visa (though this is how it works in China as well).

Wekk, as far as westerners go... I'm not sure what the official numbers are and the PRC doesnt do much to compile them, but the bulk of Western-Chinese marriages are Western men to Chinese women, so on the one hand, it makes things slightly more challenging for the traditional male breadwinner structure if the man isn't allowed to work legally. Thankfully though, for me, it's pretty easy for a Westerner to get a work visa in china.

A lot of Chinese male to international woman marriages are to women from Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, etc, occasionally Ukraine or Russia, and since in most of those cases the man is wealthy enough to woo and marry a foreign bride, it's often a non-issue since she won't be working anyways.

It is a lot tougher for an African or middle eastern man who marries a Chinese woman, since work and therefore visas are harder to come by. About six months ago, GZ authorities started cracking down on the African community because there is a larger percentage of them who overstay their visas; much heavier scrutiny for the ones with valid visas upon re-entry from HK or Macau, with lots of guys shut out from their Chinese families. If they presented documentation for marriage, the response was, "why didn't you get a spouse visa?" Not much sympathy from the immigration authorities on the issue.

Actually I was referring to the 'men are supposed to be the working sex not women' attitude prevalent in East Asia, but what you described is a form of sexism as well, I guess...even though I'm not really sure if reverse sexism really exists.

totally different situations; a foreign national marrying a citizen and still not being allowed to work upon issuance of a spousal visa, versus the non-citizen spouse of a non-citizen issued a work visa not automatically obtaining their own work visa (though this is how it works in China as well).

not sure about your situation ... is your spouse a Hong Kong citizen? You mentioned she is from Hunan and also needed visa to work in HK. PRC citizens are not allowed to work in Hong Kong freely.

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